Once Upon a Time … wait, what was I going to say?

It’s like that tickle in the back of your brain, that you know you know something, but you can’t remember what it is. Like a person’s name. Or an appointment you remembered that you forgot, but you can’t remember any details.

So I started a different blog. I was going to write about mean reviewers, the kind who anonymously post bad reviews that are full of snark and personal slights instead of insight into why they didn’t like the book. But then I thought, why give those vipers any more attention?

Then I was going to write about writing. Really original with THAT idea. Writers write. Duh.

My iMac is in the Apple Hospital. I thought I’d have it today, but no. I was going to blog about my love affair with all things Macintosh, but decided against that. (But I miss my computer so much! I have a MacBook Pro laptop that I use when traveling, which is now on my desk in place of my iMac, but it’s just not the same.)

THEN I thought about social media. I have a lot of ideas and not enough time to do them. For example, I have a website for my new series character, Max Revere. My plan was to have her blog about crime issues, particularly unsolved crimes. REAL unsolved crimes, because I’m a bit of a crime nut and follow a bunch of crime news, so I thought this would be relatively easy. Except … everything takes time, and I don’t have an extra thirty minutes to blog for a fictional character.

But I’m still thinking about doing it. Because I see the potential. She even has her own Twitter feed that I haven’t updated since February :/

I also have had an idea for more than two years. Maybe three. Toni would probably remember because I talked to her about it way back when. I wanted to have a Vlog. You know, a video blog. I would interview debut authors or vlog about my research trips or television or about writing … except not only does it take TIME to put one of these things together, but I would have to shower and dress in the morning … er, I would have to learn new skills with video editing and whatnot. When on earth do I have time for that? I don’t want to half-ass something and post it just because–I want to do it right. Or maybe I should do a podcast? On what? Why would anyone listen?

Which brings me to the fourth (fifth?) idea I had for a blog: writing about my daughter Kelly’s blog, Without Ink.

Kelly’s AP Literature teacher is requiring his students to maintain a weekly blog, following a journey where they teach themselves something new. Kelly’s an artist who has shied away from digital art, so decided to do her blog about teaching herself digital art. She’s also a very talented writer, and if you’ve struggled with perfectionism—in writing or anything else–you should check this out. The whole article is worth reading, but this paragraph struck me as particularly insightful:

When I went to art school last summer, I had to let go of my tight grip on perfection. Producing several crappy paintings and drawings all day every day, I didn’t have time to agonize over how awful everything was. I had to make mistakes, leave them, and keep going. Because of this, I realized the truth in practice over product. I gained a ridiculous amount of insight from just playing around with stuff I didn’t expect to go anywhere and experimenting with mediums I wasn’t comfortable with. I had to open my mind to failure, let things go unfinished, spend hours on something only to wipe it away and move onto the next project. It was an invaluable experience. Without it, I doubt I would’ve gotten very far as an artist.

Writers struggle with this every day, just like artists. But I’m the exact opposite of my daughter. For me, in the beginning, I wrote without fear. I wrote as practice. I had hundreds of beginnings and no endings, but I didn’t care if I made mistakes, or wrote a sloppy first draft, or even if I wrote an entire book that I then shelved. Every day I wrote was a day I learned. I practiced. I didn’t think about the end result as much as the journey. I wrote without seeing the flaws. If I didn’t like one story, I moved to another.

Now, I see my flaws as they happen. I see plot holes before I write them. I know immediately what isn’t working. When in the past I could just ignore these problems and move on, now I can’t. I have to solve the problem or I’m completely stuck. Before I could write three, four, seven thousand words in a day. Now I’m lucky to get 2,000 down. On a really good day I can net 3,000 words.

There’s no “best” process. It still takes me as long to write a book (well, maybe longer …) I still like and need revisions, and the day I don’t get a revision letter is the day I have a heart-to-heart with my editor, or leave. I already did that once.

I don’t know exactly which book I changed my process … it was a gradual shift that I only recently identified. But when I’m stuck, I stop. I have to fix the plot problem before I can push on. It’s like a mental block, that even though I know my first draft will not be perfect, I still can’t write unless I know something is going to work.

I think I need to take a page from Kelly’s blog and stop seeking perfection. It’s driving me batty.

Which brings me back around to social media. I had planned to start a street team (readers who love my books and help spread the word) but again, I wanted to do it “right” and as such, haven’t implemented it. So between Max’s blog, a street team, a vlog, a podcast … I haven’t ended up doing anything other than the tried and true Facebook and Twitter and this blog.

But thinking about it all is enough to make my head spin. Why can’t writing be enough?

So I have three questions as I start to make some decisions:

Would you be part of an author’s street team? Are you now? What do you like/don’t like about it?

Would you read a character blog like I described? Meaning, Max Revere, an investigative crime reporter, will blog about real-life crimes and investigations.

Would you be interested in a monthly vlog or podcast by an author? By me? Do you watch/listen to any now and if so, who?

The answers may or may not impact my decision, because ultimately, it all comes down to TIME. Something I need more of!

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.

26 comments on “Once Upon a Time … wait, what was I going to say?”

I’m not interested in the street teams/vlog/pod cast. I’ve listened to a couple of pod casts and found them a little slow and boring. If the author appears uncomfortable it makes it worse.

I don’t think I’d have the time/interest to add a character blog about real life crime. I’m not a true crime buff. Every once in a while one of those true crime investigative shows on tv sucks me in though.

Thanks Anne! I appreciate your comments and honesty. It’s one of those things that I would love to do everything, but I would much rather write … except that I need to do more than write or readers will forget me! Can’t have that … 🙂

I am on 4 street teams. Two of which I helped the author set up. No matter how many people are on the team there will only be a core group that are active and do the most “work”. Some fans are on the team just to be on the team, but the ones that can help the most will be the ones who can do honest reviews for you and help get the word out when you have a release. The teams that I am on are for Cherry Adair, Debra Webb, Roxanne St. Claire and Stella Cameron; yes all very different authors.
I would proably check out a blog like you described for Maxine, but not a Vlog. I like to read about cold cases and such but if it was a daily thing probably not.

I don’t know about the street team thing or the podcast thing, but I think Max’s blog would be neat. I know I’d follow it. I thought about doing something similar for my genies, but until someone shows interest in the books, I don’t want to waste my time.

Great post by Kelly, btw.

And yeah, I think writing ought to be enough – especially your writing. Heck, I chat your books up every chance I get. (Which is limited since I’m a hermit, but I’ll bet most of your other fans have other people they can chat your books up with.)

Thank you B.E. — you’ve been one of my best readers from the very beginning — I think you emailed me about THE PREY! And didn’t we meet at the RWA conference in Dallas? I’m getting my conferences mixed up, but I think that was it.

Wow, your timing on this blog couldn’t have been more interesting. Yesterday I almost started a blog titled I JUST WANT TO WRITE BOOKS DAMMIT!!!

The social media stuff has gotten out of control and I really have to question if it sells books — at least long term. If everyone is busy on a street team, reading blogs by characters or watching blogs, WHEN are they reading books? Isn’t this the problem with sales being down on books?

I also question publishers, who are now measuring a writer’s potential by how big they are on social media.

You should write the blog. I enjoy SOME social media. I like chatting. It’s part of my extroverted personality, I guess. But I also want more time to write. I can’t write 12 hours straight, so breaking it up with a blog or hanging on facebook, keeps me fresh, but then I get ideas ….

To be honest, I just want to read your books, then chat them up to my friends. The stories are what compel me to read. I’m not a true crime buff, nor do I listen to podcasts or watch vlogs. If I have the time, generally I will watch TED talks as I always learn something new or gain a hint of perspective–but that is very rare. I’ve found that my readers who love my books, push them anyway–I don’t need to do anything. And to be honest, I feel good that word of mouth is their organic process–I’m not meddling or pushing…I’m just writing and interacting through FB.

So, I just want to read stories. And write them. That’s pretty much it.

Word of mouth is key, absolutely — but social media also has a hand in word of mouth. It gives people a platform to speak to more people than their personal friends and neighbors. I think that’s why it’s become important to authors, since we tend to sit at our desks and bang our heads against the keyboard all day …

The reason I like an author always comes back to the books. I will read my favorite authors’ books the day they come out… but have no interest in a character blog, etc. I am really following the author because of the stories, not so much their social media stuff.

I tend to check in with social media at work so Vlogs aren’t a good fit. I might read Max’s blog, but would have to be reminded that it is there. Same with podcasts, not something I’ve ever quite embraced, but I have friends that love them.

I erally like the street team concept, but it really needs to be something that benefits both the author and the reader. I’m going to chat up the author’s I like no matter what. Deb Webb is amazingly generous with her street team. She sends books, t-shirts, etc. (Toni waves to Linda.) There are other street teams that are less generous. they get more focused on “missions” and don’t necessarily give back to the readers as much. I’m on a street team because I love an author’s books, but I also want to get something out of it.

Another concept, like you need anything else, is a reader review team. You typically have to have publisher support on those. It is anywhere from 25 – 400 people. The agreement is you get an advanced copy of the book. You then must post a review in the first two weeks of the book’s release. If you don’t, you’re out. If you do, you stay in for the next book. I’ve actually enjoyed the reader review team almost more than some of the street teams.

You do know I’m still the first in line to join whatever type of team you put together, right?

Yes Toni — I remember you said you would help put together my street team! It’s probably the one thing I’m leaning on doing. I don’t know anything about reader review teams, but I might be able to get my publisher to give books to my street team for reviews. I hate, hate, hate asking for reviews. Sometimes I’ll mention it in my newsletter, but I don’t usually ask because it makes me feel weird. :/ Do you know how hard it was for me to ask authors to give me a blurb for my upcoming hardcover? I asked two (they both did) and my agent asked four (two did). I’m thrilled with the quotes, but it still made me nervous and sheepish to ask.

One thing about doing a reader review team – you aren’t necessarily asking people to do reviews. You are asking them to be part of a group that does reviews. Everyone knows what you are asking when they sign up to participate. I don’t know if that would make it easier or not. 🙂

I wouldn’t be interested in the character blog. Dunno about the street team–I was part of a couple that seemed to peter out, so I think it has to be more of an ‘organic’ thing that the readers create rather than the author commissioning. *shrug* Oh, and I do Vlogs, but they’re strictly DIY and on my nonfiction topics (“why do pets drink out of toilets” and the like). Also hosted/produced a Podcast for several years…and frankly, numbers of listeners are inflated. Very few folks follow those. I stopped, it wasn’t worth the time/effort. Them’s my several cents. *s*

Amy, you have an amazing platform and I’m sure you have a lot of followers because of your expertise and presentation. I would listen to you just because you’re interesting and talk about things I like! (pets!) You might be right about a street team — I have had a few readers contact me, so it’s something that’s on my plate to do, but I’m a control freak, and giving up control is hard. But if I don’t, I’ll never do it. Argh!

I couldn’t have a street team because I’m not only a perfectionist, years of editing both the RWR and NINK convinced me that I’m a terrible delegator. I can’t even have someone answer my email because so many things readers write about are personal and I don’t want to give them a canned response.

Same with FB pages. I know authors who have WONDERFUL assistants who act as them on their pages and I envy them that. But again, did I mention, I can’t delegate?

Which is why turning down my three book NAL contract and deciding to self publish (only to escape deadlines; the offer was great and I love my publisher) is turning out to be both good and bad. I have delegated an upcoming new website, art, and formatting the mss to four people whose work I trust and so far, I’m enjoying not having to worry overly much about that.

One thing I have noticed on Twitter is that some street teams can be very obvious when all of a sudden there’s a flurry of release, review, and bestseller list tweets. I’ve gotten so I never pay attention to those while a tweet or Goodreads review from someone I can sense is just a reader who honestly just loved the book, gets my attention.

My link stats also show, btw, that people on FB outclick Twitter by 10-20 to 1. My e-newsletter still gets the most clicks percentage, suggesting that sometimes the old stuff actually works best. 🙂

I tweet myself, and I post myself on facebook. I couldn’t delegate that because it wouldn’t sound like me. :/ I also do much better on facebook than twitter, and most of the people on Facebook who follow me are readers, while most of the people on Twitter are industry people (authors, editors, agents, bloggers, etc.) But I like both …

Oh, as if that wasn’t long enough — I LOVE your daughter’s post and I so envy you that early fearless writing. Maybe it was coming from journalism, but I was all too aware that people would someday be reading every word.

Social media is a important tool for reaching new readers. I can’t remember now which outlet it was that I read about Laura Griffin but I bought one of her books for my Kindle. Loved it!
Over the course of several months I read all of her books and followed her here. Which is where I read one of your articles, bought a Lucy Kincaid book…awesome.. read them all! Now I am in the process of reading your older books…all together I’ve read 18.
I feel that writers who are active on Facebook, etc. go the extra mile to make their readers feel more like friends instead of just potential sells. Some writers just show up on Facebook, etc. to push their newest release. Which is fine. But when the budget is tight and I have to choose between my “friend” Allison, or that other writer “?”…. guess which one I’m going to purchase? That’s right…. Cold Snap! Can’t wait…

Street team–no thank you. I keep up with authors on FB, couple author blogs and MSW. I comment in those arenas, that’s enough for me
Love the character blog ideas, I would totally go there. I remember a “serial” type blog Jayne Ann Krentz did on twitter with one of her characters. Loved it!!
Vlog vs podcast–good question?? I like the idea of seeing you interacting with another author vs. listening to a podcast.
Love Kelly’s blog. Another writer in the family??

I love to read, so the books are the most important. I do belong to Laura Griffin’s Team Tracers and I really like it. I follow on FB. I cannot get the hang of Twitter. I guess I feel more connected with Laura b/c of Team Tracers, but I would by her books anyway. I got a couple of ARCs, but I bought the ebook b/c I reread her books a lot. So I guess what I am saying is if I like the author enough to buy her books, I am already talking about the books so I would join her team.

Wow its just like everything else it has pluses and minuses. Ultimately authors just want to write but social media is important.I am a huge fan of Contemporary Romance author Julie James and she or her publisher does a nice prize right before a new release. Fans post on Face or Twitter about her new release. Seems like great free publicity. Individual authors have to decide how much is too much. No way could I keep all the balls in the air. But speaking as a fan. I don’t know if I would be a good candidate for a street team. I don’t use Facebook or Twitter personally. Well I do check a few authors on social media. Mainly I do so to keep up with details about upcoming book. Some authors even post when Amazon is offering specials on their books. So there are a couple of authors that I check out everyday. As for a character blog sounds interesting.

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Bio:

Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.